Business highlights – New law may lock youth, disabled persons out of public procurement board

Japanese car dealers to help Kenyan authorities curtail cases of fraud

A delegation of Japan’s used car dealers has arrived in Nairobi to help craft strategies against fraud that has seen Kenyans lose millions of shillings through online vehicle purchases

Officials of Japan Used Motor Vehicle Exporters Association (JUMVEA) are expected to meet with top government officials, local used car dealers and the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) among other stakeholders

Most of the victims of the fraud have been lured by online con artists who offer cars at significant discounts compared to established trading houses including the 240 members of JUMVEA such as Sun Corporation and Amagasaki Motor

The fraudsters fail to deliver the vehicles after they are paid, leaving their victims with a legal and logistical nightmare trying to get their cash back.

“This is to inform that (JUMVEA) has requested for facilitation of appointments with Kenyan official for four of its members,” Kenya’s ambassador to Japan Solomon Maina wrote to the ministry of foreign affairs in a letter dated March 21.

“JUMVEA, which is the legally recognised used motor exporters in Japan, like the embassy, regrets that many Kenyans are losing valuable cash to fraudulent vehicle dealers and would like to discuss how to solve the situation.”

Kenya Auto Bazaar Association (KABA), which represents the interests of used car dealers, is among the key stakeholders that will engage with JUMVEA officials in talks that are expected to be concluded by the end of the week.

Mr Maina said Kenya’s embassy in Japan is inundated with appeals for assistance from Kenyans who have fallen prey to the unscrupulous dealers.

“Despite concerted effort, the embassy is unable to effectively solve these matters given the fact that the mission has no mandate to intervene in private business affairs,” he wrote in the letter.

“It should also be noted that fraud is considered as a civil offence by the Japanese law and authorities advise that such offences should be addressed though Interpol or by hiring lawyers for due legal processes.”

He added that the fraudsters use fake internet addresses that are not officially registered.

Former Kilome MP John Harun Mwau has sued former anti-corruption boss John Githongo for linking him to the global narcotics trade

Githongo fingered Mwau through a 2015 article published on German non-profit investigative journalism website Correctiv.org

Mr Mwau says Mr Githongo alongside two journalists – Lorenzo Bagnoli and Lorenzo Bodrero – conspired to tarnish his name through the article by linking him to the drugs trade

The former Kilome MP says the article implied that he owned two drug consignments worth US$278 million (Ksh28 billion) seized by Australian authorities on the Kenyan coast.

Neither Mr Githongo, Mr Bodrero nor Mr Bagnoli have responded to the suit filed at the Milimani Law Courts.

Mr Mwau wants the court to determine how much he should be given in compensation for the damage caused to him and his family by the article. He has filed a separate suit against two bloggers, Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Michael Goldstein, for linking him to the drugs trade.

New law may lock youth, people with disabilities out of public procurement board

A proposal contained in Finance Bill 2017 may exclude four groups of people from the Public Procurement Regulatory Board sittings

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Association of Professional Societies in East Africa, youth and persons with disabilities will be denied representation on the board whose role is to provide procedures for efficient public procurement and assets disposal by public entities

The proposed amendments to section 10 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act 2015 specifically require that the Cabinet secretary appoints two members nominated by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Kenya Institute of Supplies Management to the board

The Bill has also removed a requirement that two persons nominated by the respective organisations representing the youth and persons with disabilities be appointed.

Instead, it has recommended that four other persons be appointed by the minister.

The Bill seeks to amend the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2015, to address the three main issues missing in the Act and which are critical to the implementation of the Act.

Namely: the composition of the Public Procurement Regulatory Review Board, the composition of the Public Procurement Review Board and the introduction of specially permitted procurement method as an alternative procurement method, the Bill states.

It also proposes that in the picking of chairperson and members, appointing authority shall ensure gender balance.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has called on Kenya’s government to reduce its reliance on donor support to bolster the country’s health and education sectors The agency,